The White House stated that Obama had chosen 'the best' candidate to serve the Supreme Court.
Rejecting criticism that US President Barack Obama missed a golden opportunity to bring in diversity in the Supreme Court bench and could have chosen someone younger, the White House asserted that he nominated "the best" to serve on the apex court.
"The President's commitment to the principle of ensuring we have a judiciary that looks like the rest of the country is rock-solid," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference.
"And the other principle that he has strongly adhered to is making sure that he's choosing the best person for the job, and I think he's demonstrated over the course of his seven years in office that it is absolutely possible to do both," he added.
Earnest was responding to questions yesterday as to why Obama overlooked the strong credentials for the judge from diverse communities including African Americans, Indian Americans and Asian Americans even as some of them figured on his short-list.
"I can tell you that the President considered a diverse array of candidates, and I think that's what you'd expect considering the diverse array of individuals that the White House consulted in advance of the President making his decision. The President took that advice quite seriously and considered a diverse array of candidates," he said.
"The President ultimately settled on Chief Judge Garland for one reason, and one reason only, and that is simply that he believes that Chief Judge (Merrick) Garland is the best person in America to do that job. And that's how the President made the decision," Earnest said.
He said that the President himself has talked on a number of occasions about how important it is to ensure that the federal bench is as diverse as the rest of the country. "When you take a look at the President's track record, it's quite strong. That starts with the two previous appointments that the President has made to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court. He appointed the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court in the form of Justice Sotomayor," Earnest said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Barack Obama")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}